Fantasy Call of the Night (Me x TheDarkButterfly)

[TheDarkButterfly]

"Yeah, there's uh..... there are some vampires out there that are still like.....that". He gestured vaguely with a hand before stuffing it in his pocket, continuing to pick at his hem with the other. He shifted awkwardly again. "T-Tavlar's not like that though. EVen though he's really old, he's not like that." He glanced around a little, a part of him wishing that Tavlar would hurry up, even though he had only just left them.

Honestly, they were pretty safe where they were at, and James knew how to fight despite how he looked. If humans approached them then he would be able to take them easily. He highly doubted that any Vampire would be stupid enough to try and attack them, even with all the blood on Vanessa, with all of the Hunters that crawled around the city.

Realizing that they were in a city that the Hunters made as a base made his skin crawl a little. Suddenly he was wishing even harder that Tavlar would come quickly. He drew in a sharp breath, tugging at his shirt and trying to keep himself calm.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

She cocked her head, considering him from the corners of her eyes. For perhaps not the first or last time, she wondered just how old Tavlar was. But she wouldn't ask a human for their age, and she certainly wouldn't forget her manners even now. No matter how curious she was... She sighed and ran a hand roughly over her face, thinking about the mess she found herself in. How could she ever go back to her old life, considering all she's gone through?

She was glad that she wasn't the only awkward person around. Although, maybe if one of them had been slightly less awkward, they could have a conversation without it going silent? Soon enough, she was also beginning to hope that Tavlar would come back soon. Not that she'd liked the guy or anything...

"Do you two frequently take moonlit strolls through the woods?" She blurted out and then winced. What an awkward question!

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

"Um, yeah. Yeah, it's one of Tavlar's favorite things to do, actually." James seemed much more comfortable when talking about Tavlar. "One of the first things I ever did with him was actually walking through the woods during a full moon together after I had recovered." He hadn't meant to say the last part and paled a little, biting his lip sharply at his mistake and getting awkward again. He seemed to shrink into himself a little, trying to keep himself from walking down too dark paths of his mind. He cleared his throat roughly. "A-anyways, he's taken to bringing me along with him when he goes out to walk. We wander around a lot, s-so it's nice to explore."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

She didn't expect him to take her question seriously. It might have been endearing in any other situation, were she not fully aware of what he was. Although, the way he ended it gave her some pause. 'after I had recovered'? Cocking her head slightly, she peered up at the vampire. She tried to see into his face, beneath the shadows that plagued his skin, but it was much too hard and she gave up after a bit. Instead of calling attention to it, she looked away and proceeded to fidget at a thread. "Mm." Even before she'd been kidnapped, she had never gone out by herself. It was too dangerous for women, especially those that weren't vampires. She always stared out at the moon from the safety of her apartment.

"Yeah, I bet it's nice." Her lips twisted. She didn't seem like a very positive person, not like that wasn't understandable considering what she'd gone through. "I never even took the time to explore even before..." She hesitated, and then shook her head, dropping the subject before it could even form.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

They fell into an uncomfortable silence for a while. James looked up and tensed when a sleek black car pulled up alongside them. He relaxed a little when it was Tavlar that bounced out first, grinning. "Hello! I'm back! I've brought someone to help you, Vanessa." He stepped aside when a woman slid from the driver's seat, dressed in a sharp black suit. Thick black curls were barely restrained with a hair tie. She smiled, showing very human teeth.

"Hello, my dear. Tavlar told me you were in a bit of a pinch. Name's Amelie. Nice to meet you." She held out a hand for Vanessa to shake. Her nails were a pristine powder blue.

Tavlar pulled James slightly to the side as Amelie introduced herself. "James I know you're going to be upset but we have to go along with the Hunters for now, ok?" He gave James a worried smile as the other man drew in a sharp breath. "It's ok. It's fine, it won't be long." Tavlar said soothingly, gently touching James' arm. "We're just going for a moment and then we're leaving again, ok?"

James swallowed a little and nodded, glancing at Amelie and Vanessa.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

Conversation practically dead, she didn't even try to resurrect it again. She wasn't sure why she'd even tried anyway, was she truly that lonely for a bit of company? She wasn't quite sure if it was James himself that cued her in on the new arrivals, or if she'd simply heard the new arrivals, but she looked up to see a sleek black car pulling up along side them. So fancy... She found herself thinking as she considered the car. She never would've been able to afford such a car on her meager salary. And then Tavlar hopped out. She should have been relieved to finally have help, but...

Her eyes were so heavy. A peaceful haze had gripped her brain in its clutches and wasn't letting go any time soon. When the woman next stepped out, her first immediate thought was, Who is this act for? It was more than a little rude. Thankfully, thoughts were silent. She peered closely at the woman's hand, wary even though she was clearly human. After a moment's study, she cautiously gripped the woman's hand.

She chanced a glance over to see Tavlar and James talking by them selves. There was a prickle of curiosity as she wondered about their conversation, but she swiftly brought her focus back to the woman, Amelie. She assumed that Amelie had heard her name from Tavlar, but just in case... "Mine's Vanessa." She might have repeated the next words back to her, but was it really nice to meet her, considering the circumstances behind their meeting?

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Amelie's grip was gentle but held a strength in them that hinted at the fact that she was a fighter at heart. "Come on, dear," She said as she carefully pulled Vanessa up off the bench before turning and opening the door for her. "Hop in. We'll take you where you'll be safe and have a chance to get patched up." She cast a look up and down Vanessa, frowning softly at the obvious wounds.

James persuaded for now, Tavlar sighed gently and turned back to Amelie as she opened the door. "We'll be tagging along for a little bit too." He told Vanessa reassuringly. "We'll come to the Hunters with you and wait until you're all settled it." James looked very uncomfortable beside Tavlar, not looking forward to heading right into a lions den. He had to keep silently telling himself that it wasn't like when Tavlar had found him, that the Hunters were much different now. It didn't help the other part of himself absolutely freaking out at the moment. Maybe he could ask to be left outside of the building?

 

[Shy2Infinity]

As the woman pulled her up, she winced and stumbled. Her legs shook with the effort it took to keep herself from falling. She fidgeted, leaning into one foot and then the other in order to try and find a position that would lessen the pain. With the door open, she forcibly put one step in front of the other, climbing into the car. A great wave of relief swept over her as she was finally able to rest her legs. Carefully stretching, she tried to count the aches all over her body. It seemed like they were numerous. A frown teased at her lips as she gave her shoulder a rough rub.

She'd pulled multiple muscles and earned herself a multitude of cuts and scars running through the forest.

The assessment of her body was interrupted when Tavlar turned up at the other door. She chewed his words over and nodded, "Okay." She gripped her hands into her lap and turned to survey the tree line. Somewhere out in that direction, had been the place she'd been kept prisoner for months. She'd stabbed her 'master' in the heart... Or she thought she had.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Tavlar gently coaxed James into the back seat beside Vanessa and then got into the passenger seat himself, Amelie joining them after shutting Vanessa's door. She started up the car after everyone had buckled and carefully pulled back into the street. James picked ceasely at the hem of his shirt, looking a little more pale than usual. Tavlar and Amelie chatted about nothing of import in the front seats.

It only took maybe ten minutes to get to the Hunter's building. From the road it was hard to tell it was anything of worth. As they pulled into the parking garage below the building and had to go through various check-ins where Amelie had to show her Hunter's licence to no less than three different stops, James became more and more tense beside Vanessa. Tavlar and Amelie still chatted, but Tavlar seemed to be aware of James behind him.

Finally they parked and Amelie stepped out and opened Vanessa's door as another Hunter approached them with a wheelchair for her. "Hop on and we'll go get you all cleaned up, alright?" Amelie smiled at her kindly.

On the other side of the car it took Tavlar a lot of soft words and coaxing to get James out of the car, the poor man glassy-eyed and silent. He clung tightly to the back of Tavlar's shirt with one hand. Tavlar didn't seem to mind.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

In hindsight, it likely wasn't a great distance to the hideout, but even knowing that, she found it hard to stay awake. She didn't even try to keep her head up, and instead, rested it against the window. The glass was blessedly cool and was like a balm to her heated skin. It should have been easy to fall asleep, but she could never quite manage it. Whether it was because of her aches, because of her wariness, or because of anything else it was hard to say.

And yet, when they reached their destination, she found that she'd dozed off sometime. Now she sat up and rubbed wearily at her face. Looking around, she saw James still seated beside her and the two up front. It almost felt like a dream, that she was no longer trapped. She was beginning to fidget, wondering if it really was quite this easy. Before she could wonder anymore, Amelie opened her side door. She offers a nod at the woman's words and reaches a hand out to the arm of the wheelchair, steadying herself before she carefully maneuvered herself into it.

It took a fair amount of effort on her part, without agitating her wounds. She squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling through her nose. Letting out a slow breath, she opened her eyes and focused back in on her surroundings.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Amelie led them to an elevator, the other Hunter pushing Vanessa along and Tavlar and James bringing up the rear. James looked about ready to bolt when they reached the elevator but a little more coaxing from Tavlar got him on it without too much fuss. The younger vampire seemed to try his best to hide behind the elder, despite him having at least an inch on the other.

A short ride had the Hunter pushing Vanessa out to have her cleaned up and looked over. Amelie promised her a warm and comfortable be once she was fixed up and then a hot meal when she woke before she sent them off.

James seemed to shrink further and further into himself as the remaining three continued ever further into the building. He was practically attached to Tavlar at this point. No one commented on it. Amelie led the two vampires to a quiet room to rest before she went off to take care of other duties and to check in on Vanessa. It took great strength of will for James to not bolt out a window. The only thing keeping him in place was the unwillingness to release Tavlar's shirt. Tavlar just patiently let James cling as close as he needed to.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

As she was pushed along, she folded her hands neatly in her lap. Despite the exhaustion digging into her bones, she was curious about the place they brought her to. There wasn't a single moment that went by that she didn't study their surroundings. She tried not to pay the vampires too much attention, but she found her gaze more often than not drifting back to them. James really did not want to be here, it seemed. But she figured that drawing attention to it would only make it worse, so she pretended not to notice.

The elevator ride was short, yet awkward. She didn't quite know what to do with herself. "Mm." She nodded at Amelie's words. She wasn't quite a talker, now was she?

And then, she was separated from the two vampires. That should have been fine, but panic tightened around her heart and and she gripped the arms of her wheelchair. It was ridiculous. She should have been happy to be parted from them, as nervous around them as she was.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

It took a lot of coaxing and soft words and touches to get James to finally settle into one of the couches in the room, curling into a ball against one of the arms. Tavlar stuck close, offering wordless comfort and support to him. Honestly, it was going a little better than TAvlar had thought it would, but the Hunter's weren't bothering them which seemed to help quite a bit. Maybe if one of them had been a little more aggressive James would have panicked, but Tavlar was proud of how much he was keeping himself together. He would have to get him some kind of reward for it later.

The Hunter took Vanessa into what looked like a hospital room, various pieces of equipment neatly against one wall and a treatment bed along another. There was a bathroom with a shower attached off to the side. The Hunter left her there with a couple of nurses and a doctor, all human, and shut the door behind himself. The nurses and doctor fussed over her and her injuries, cleaning the wounds and bandaging them. One of the nurses clucked softly at the state of her feet as she carefully cleaned them.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

She tried not to anxiously fidget too much as the Hunter pushed her along. The silence was grating. She wasn't someone that could handle the silence without some light chatter, but she didn't know any of these people and that was even worse. It was made only slightly better that she was surrounded by humans. Hell, her exhaustion only made the annoyance more grating. But finally, the Hunter had taken her into what appeared to be a hospital room. She didn't notice the nurses at first, instead taking her time to study the room.

When the Hunter left and the nurses began bandaging her, there were multiple times where she'd wince or clench her jaw against the pain. They were probably being as gentle as they could be, in hindsight. It only really just occurred to her to check out her feet, and she had to fight against the urge to grimace at the state of them. All cut up, dried blood clinging to them. She made herself look away and didn't dare look back.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

It took the nurses a little bit to finish patching her up. Then they cleaned around her in a slight flurry before one of them encouraged her to lay down on the bed and rest for a while. Amelie had stopped in for a brief moment, talking with the doctor softly before giving Vanessa a small smile and wave before she was off again, no doubt needing to make some report of some kind.

Tavlar was humming softly to himself again, in a small attempt to keep James at least somewhat soothed. He perked a little when a familiar face entered the room. "Deveral!" Tavlar greeted as a taller vampire with slicked-back black hair entered the room. Deveral smiled.

"Hey, Tavlar! Nice to see you again!" He offered James a friendly smile, not offended when the younger vampire hid himself behind Tavlar. "I see you both are doing well. I'm glad. I heard you went on a bit of an adventure!" He lounged into another couch. "It's not every day you manage to find another thing to adopt." He chuckled. "Oh wait...."

Tavlar laughed good-naturedly, long used to Deveral's teasing about his inclinations to pick up strays. "I dare say that we were picked up rather than the other way around! The poor thing was just scared out of her mind!"

 

[Shy2Infinity]

She was finding it hard to keep up with the nurses. They clearly knew what they were doing and by the time they were done, her head was spinning. She was happy when the nurses were done and she was helped into bed. She laid back and pulled the cover up to her chin, glancing over as Amelie showed up. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, watching as the woman talked with the doctor. Unfortunately, no matter how much she strained her ears, she couldn't quite catch onto what they were talking about. And then Amelie was gone and she was, mostly, alone.

Her eyes found the ceiling. There was nothing stopping her brain from traveling back to that moment in the castle. The stake had felt hard and certain in her hands. She'd never attempted to kill someone before that moment, but so many months spent in captivity, kept as a vampire's play thing... She had long since lost any mercy she could have had for him. It was lucky for her that he'd begun to lower his guard around her, else she probably would have never managed to kill him.

It was also thanks to the only vampire she'd made friends with, that she'd even escaped at all.

Despite her exhaustion, it took her some time to fall asleep, as her brain replayed the events of that night constantly. When she finally fell asleep, it was to nightmares that made her feel helpless. Some nightmare about pointed fangs and the spraying of blood.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Deveral and Tavlar chatted quietly with each other for a long time, having a few years to try and catch up on. James slowly relaxed as they spoke, slowly coming out from behind Tavlar. Deveral was used to James being so skittish, and really who was he to blame the poor kid? He had joined the Hunters after some sweeping reforms that one mad human at the top had implemented. He knew of what had happened to James at the hands of Hunters, at least a little, through Tavlar. Both elder vampires felt it an obligation to protect the younger, although Tavlar was certainly more hands on. James trusted Tavlar more than anyone. DEveral couldn't blame him.

Amelie had stopped in again, letting them know that Vanessa was fine and inviting them to stay the day. Tavlar weighed the options and agreed to stay after checking to be sure James was fine. Tavlar wanted to at least be able to say goodbye to the 'stray' before they went wanding off again. A part of him doubted that they would ever have the chance to see each other again after they parted ways.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

She wasn't quite sure what it was that woke her up. A whisper... Telling her to get up? It was so insistent that no matter how much she tried, she simply couldn't banish the voice. It really wanted her up, now. Finally, her eyes flew open. She gazed at the ceiling, letting out sharp gasps. She could remember only bits and pieces from the nightmare. All she could remember with utter certainty was the blood. She felt so restless and anxious as a result, she knew there would be no sleep to be had so she sat up. Then she noticed the wheelchair sitting by her bedside.

A frown pulled at her lips as she glanced around sneakily. It wasn't like the doctors would want her to be laying in bed the whole day... Considering the wheelchair, she thought about leaving the room and possibly smacking into someone that she didn't know. The thought made her feel lightheaded. Still, that wasn't enough to completely keep her from reaching out with a trembling hand. As she helped herself into the wheelchair, she looked around.

Most of the doctors/nurses were completely distracted with their other patients. She doubted anyone would notice if she just left. Vanessa put a hand to her chest, feeling its rapid thudding beneath her fingers. She resolved herself to the mission and wheeled herself out.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Tavlar and Deveral spent a long time just talking about nothing in particular. Old conversations that they had had with each other before but never grew tired of. Jokes that only they understood. And as they talked James came further and further out from behind Tavalr. He still didn't let go of the back of his shirt, but at least he wasn't trying to squash himself between Tavlar and the back of the couch. He didn't join the conversation, and neither of the elder vampires expected him to. Deveral was politely ignoring him after the first initial greeting, giving him the space he needed. While he couldn't fully relax knowing that he was in the center of Hunter activity, having the other two vampires there with him helped to ease his nerves. Once the initial fear had worn off, he was able to persuade himself that there was no way Tavlar would ever let a Hunter, or anyone else for that matter, put their hands on James that way again. It was equally a relaxing and sobering thought.

Deveral kept them company for most of the night, proudly boasting that he had no duties that he needed to fulfill and he could spend all his time with Tavlar and James. It was hard for James to hold back the eyeroll at Deveral's words. He didn't doubt that somehow Deveral had either wormed his way out of his duties or was just blatantly ignoring them. Faintly James wondered how Vanessa was doing. He didn't really like anyone other than Tavlar, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of being concerned over them.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

As she wheeled herself down the hall, the sound of her own heartbeat drowned out the excitement she might have felt to be in a new place. The hunters were kind, for the most part. A couple of them were gruff and appeared to stare down their nose at her (not a hard feat, considering her abrupt lack of height), but she didn't begrudge them of that. They were all warriors in their own right and had, probably, dealt with many uncooperative vampires. Still, she couldn't ignore the way fear prickled at the back of her neck, whenever someone was overly blunt towards her. Even before she'd been taken by vampires, she wasn't especially good at confrontation.

For the most part, though, everyone left her alone. It gradually calmed her down. Whether they were supposed to wheel her back to her room or not, no one took the chance to, much less thought about it. She got a couple of smiles or curt nods, but that was it. Maybe they felt it was safe of her to roam around? She probably wouldn't have been able to leave without help, after all.

She flinched whenever anyone came too close, the odd paranoia driving a wedge into her brain that one of those people might have been a bad vampire in disguise. And every time she had the thought, a hand went back to her neck to linger on old wounds. She hated being like this. She couldn't even remember what she was like before getting kidnapped. She'd been normal maybe, but what even was normal? Probably not being scared to death that the same thing could happen again, she could only imagine.

Voices pricked at her, pulling her out of her negative spiral. She hesitated there in the hallway, head cocked. Her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out why one of those voices was familiar. And then, it hit: That sounds like Tavlar. She made a move to wheel herself towards it, and then hesitated. Fidgeting in place, she frowned as her stomach dropped and old anxieties started to rise again. Idiot. Even if they wanted to hurt me, they couldn't do so in the middle of a hunter's compound. And yet, that inner voice continued to talk about all of the ways a simple chat with them could go wrong.

With an annoyed huff, she glares towards the source of the voice and wheels towards it.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

The three vampires blinked at her as she wheeled her way in. Tavlar smiled. "Hello, Vanessa! It is good to see you up and about. How are you feeling, dear? This is our friend Deveral. He is both vampire and hunter extraordinaire! We've known him for a very very long time"

Deveral stood and bowed politely to her. "A pleasure, Miss Vanessa. I hope you are finding your stay pleasant despite the circumstances. Although I must admit I'm a bit surprised you're out and about." He gave her a bit of a playful grin. "I heard a bit about you around the building. Did a little sneaking out, did we? Don't worry, I won't tell." He winked a little. "Come in, come in." He waved her in a little.

James peered at her a little bit around Tavlar, but he didn't say anything to her yet.

 

[Shy2Infinity]

She was half thinking about leaving before they could notice her. That third stranger was a vampire, she was certain of it. Vampires could hide that unnatural grace as much as they liked, but it always shown through the slightest bit. Just as she was making a move to sneak away, their gazes landed on her. Knowing it was too late, her fingers froze on the wheels. Heart pounding in her ribs, she reluctantly raised her face to Tavlar's, not quite sure what to say to them. They had saved her, true. If it wasn't for them, she would have likely been wandering through those woods in a frenzy, with no clue as to where to go.

But they were also vampires.

She turned to Deveral, her nose wrinkling at the description that Tavlar gave him. "A vampire hunting his own kind?" The words had slipped out before she could stop them, and even she was alarmed at her impulsivity. Her hands went to her arm rests and tightened like a vice around them. It didn't matter that they could hardly do much while smack dab in the middle of hunters headquarters, there was that old habit again. The habit that had, thus far, kept her safe while being kept as a vampire's plaything. Be meek and docile, because if a vampire caught you acting out, you were either killed or drained. Probably even both.

Shooting Deveral a hesitant look, her hands loosened on her armrests a little. Was that an order, or an offer? The uncertain thought, deep down as it was, makes them frown. She wasn't one to entertain such thoughts, but... Catching sight of James peeking at her, she hastily withdrew her gaze. Every time Jame's gaze was on her, there was weird, prickly feeling in her chest. It was hard to decipher emotions, much less this! So she couldn't say she understood what it was. Self-consciously rubbing at the ache for a moment, she then rolled herself further into the room.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Deveral laughed at her comment as he took a seat again. "Yes, a vampire hunting his own kind. I was protected by some very kind humans and nursed back to health by them. I lived with them for a while until another vampire came along and killed them for sport. Like humans, we can be good or bad. Tavlar, James, me....most of us nowadays....we can be considered good. I help hunt the ones that are bad." He grinned a little wickedly. "Think of it as a sort of revenge. Also a way of stopping anyone else from losing people they love to vampires like that. We are far past the point of needing blood directly from humans."

Tavlar nodded slightly in agreement. "There is good and bad in every group. Sometimes it's hard to not let bad experiences color everything as evil." He glanced a little at James. "We all have suffered at the hands of others, Vanessa. It's up to us to decide if we let it change the way we see others."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

... Her mouth opened. Closed. And she turned her face away as it burned. This time, she could decipher the feeling that felt hot in her chest -- Shame. She knew, deep down, that he was right. Just like humans, vampires came in all shades of grey. Hadn't she met a good vampire once? And hadn't she met many kinds of despicable humans? She rubbed her wrist, not even wincing from the dull ache. For months, all she'd ever known was a vampire's cruelty. It was hard to believe, even now, that vampires could truly be kind. They're just trying to trick you, one part of her warned. And the smaller part, wanted desperately to hope again.

But, her gaze snapped back to Deveral at his last words. If they were far past the point of needing blood directly from humans, then... why?! That whole night she'd spent either numb or paralyzed with fear, now there was another emotion. Anger. Maybe if there was some self-righteous reason for those vampires to hurt humans, then maybe she might feel sympathy. But there wasn't an excuse, was there? They just wanted to inflict pain and torture others for the sheer thrill of it. She pressed her lips sharply together as her eyes went cloudy.

She hardly heard Tavlar for the storm brewing in her head. "I... don't know how," she breathed at last, staring down at her lap. "I keep... I keep looking at you and wondering if you'll turn on me too." Her fingernails were digging into her palms, so hard it hurt. "You saved me and I still wonder if you actually have ulterior motives." She should stop talking, but the moment she'd started, she couldn't stop herself. "It feels wrong, but there's a part of my brain that's like, just in case... And not to mention every time I look at James my chest feels so prickly, and I hate that. I feel bad. I feel sick -- and I don't think it's because of the pain..." Continuing to rub at her chest, where the prickly feeling is, she stops for breath.

 

[TheDarkButterfly]

Tavlar pried himself from James the other vampire protesting softly but sticking to his spot on the couch. Tavlar kneeled in front of Vanessa, smiling gently. "It's ok, Vanessa." He soothed. "I know it's a lot to take in. You went through something very traumatic, and no one is blaming you for your reaction to it. These things take time, dear. Don't force it. Just know that I swear, no matter what, the three of us would never hurt you. And the Hunters will protect you while you're here. You only just escaped that place, right? " He held out a hand for her to take if she wanted to. "We vampires are a patient lot, so even if it takes you a lifetime to be comfortable with us, that's alright."